Is that the intent of the term? y = 2x 4 2x 4 = 10 But with only one variable, the only way to say that \(2x 4 = 10\) is the equation of a line is to plot it on a plane as the vertical line \(x = 3\). And there is a similarity between the linear equation in one variable above, and a linear equation in two variables, such as \(y = 2x 4\), which definitely is the equation of a line. Why is an equation like 2x 4 = 10 called a linear equation in one variable? Clearly, the solution is a point on one axis, the x-axis, not a line on the two-axis Cartesian coordinate plane? Or are all linear equations in one variable viewed as vertical lines?Ĭlearly, she is saying, the phrase “linear equation” means “the equation of a line”. But the question I want to look at here, which came in last month, is about both the word and the math in explaining why the word is appropriate, we are learning some things about math itself. Fortunately, some of us love words as much as we love math. From time to time we get a question that is more about words than about math usually these are about the meaning or origin of mathematical terms.
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